Sonorville stuns Ringgold with second-half rally
On Nov. 6, the Sonoraville Phoenix overcame an 18-point, second-half deficit for a stunning 42-38 victory at LaFayette.
Back at home this past Friday night, they put on another second-half comeback, this time for their fans at home.
Trailing 23-10 with less than four minutes to go in the third quarter, the Phoenix scored 16 points in the fourth quarter and stunned visiting Ringgold, 26-23.
Both teams scored on their opening possessions. Sonoraville got a 39-yard field goal from Daniel Orellana, while Ringgold countered with a 13-play, 86-yard drive, picking up six first downs before Kori Dumas took a swing pass from Mason Parker and scampered 11 yards to the end zone. Landon Eaker’s extra point gave the Tigers a 7-3 lead with 5:34 left in the opening quarter.
They would turn out to be the only offensive points for either team in the opening half.
The Tigers’ next drive saw them march from their own 15 down to the Sonoraville 31. But a high snap on second down and a tackle for loss on third down thwarted the drive.
Ringgold used another fiveminute drive on its third possession to move the ball from its own 19 to the Sonoraville 1. However, the Phoenix defense stiffened and stopped the Tigers on fourth-and-goal.
Two plays moved the ball out to the 11-yard line, but a high snap on first down sent the ball bouncing around in the end zone. Phoenix quarterback Brady Lackey was forced to fall on it for a safety and Ringgold took a precarious 9-3 lead into halftime.
However, the lead would be short-lived once the second half began as Brant Bryant jump in front of a pass from Parker and returned it 35 yards to put the home team in front by one, 10-9, just 1:16 into the third quarter.
The Tigers had to punt the ball away on their next possession, but they shut down a fake punt attempt by the Phoenix to get the ball back with 7:01 left in the quarter.
Ringgold’s ensuing drive covered 64 yards in seven
plays as they used big thirdand-long catches by Dumas and Malachi Hill to set up a 13-yard touchdown run by Hill on a jet sweep. Dumas then ran in the conversion to put Ringgold back and front, 17-10, with 4:12 to play in the period.
The Blue-and-White got a gift less than a minute later. Dropping back to pass, Lackey simply had the ball slip out of his hands and Ringgold defensive lineman Brandon Orman was there to fall on it at the Phoenix 12-yard line.
The Tigers were whistled for a false start on their first snap, but the second snap saw Dumas haul in a swing pass from Parker before he sprinted 17 yards for the score that increased Ringgold’s lead to 23-10 following a missed extra point.
Sonoraville took possession at its own 29-yard line and moved briskly down the field in nine plays. They overcame a 10-yard holding call before Lackey was able to break the plane of the goal from three yards out, trimming the defi
cit to 23-17 on the first play of the fourth quarter.
Then, after forcing a Tiger punt, the Phoenix drove down to the Ringgold 5-yard line, but a 15-yard personal foul penalty forced a field goal try. Orellana connected on another 39-yard boot to pull his team to within three points of lead with 6:20 left.
Looking to grind up the clock with its running game, the Tigers picked up two first downs, but the Sonoraville defense held on third-andtwo near midfield with just over two minutes to go and Ringgold elected to punt. A 34-yard boot by Eaker backed up the Phoenix up to its own 16-yard line with 2:02 left in the ball game.
Lackey misfired with a pass on first down, but not on the second as he found Bryant on a slip screen. The sophomore picked up his blockers and electrified the home crowd by outrunning the Ringgold secondary to complete an 84-yard TD catch for the goahead score. The extra point was missed.
Ringgold began its final drive at its own 23 with 1:30 play and got a big 12-yard, fourth-down run by Parker to move the ball out to the 38-yard line and keep the drive alive. However, the next three plays netted zero yards and one final pass catch was stopped four yards short of a first down, effectively ending the game with 15 seconds left to play.
Lackey finished 12 of 20 in the air for 222 yards, while adding 61 yards on 13 carries. He threw one interception at the end of the first half, which was picked off by Kyle White. Zach Lyles had 13 carries for 48 yards, while Bryant had a huge game with 152 yards on just five catches.
Ringgold finished with 388 yards of total offense. Parker was a solid 19 of 26 for 202 yards. Dumas had 10 catches for 122 yards and added 119 yards on 21 rushes. Hill picked up 58 yards on five catches.
The Tigers (5-4, 4-3) will host Rockmart this Friday night at Don Patterson Field.